Hunter Hayes talks about his love of Martin Guitars; read what he has to say.

When hit young country singer Hunter Hayes plays Saturday at Allentown Fair, you won’t have to guess what brand of guitar he’ll play.

Hayes, who is touring to promote his second hit album “Storyline” and its hit single “Invisible,” is among the official ambassadors of Martin Guitar, the brand based and made in Nazareth.

But he's not paid to endorse the brand. It's because he uses them. (Hayes played Martins on his run of 10 concerts in 10 cities in 24 hours that set the Guinness Book of Records mark in May).

In a recent telephone interview, Hayes says he owns “close to 10” acoustic Martins, and that his two favorite guitars are both Martins.

“And it says a lot that my two favorite guitars are 1) a brand new custom that they just built, I think like two years ago, and a 1929 Martin that I actually saw in a store and I bought as I was writing [his new album] ‘Storyline.’ That was, quite frankly, a little bit out of my budget, but I had to have it because it was just a beautiful instrument.

“And the fact that both of those instruments speak equally as much in their own way says a lot about a brand and how well they’ve kept in tact the passion part of it.”

A self-professed music geek, Hayes expounded on his love for Martins.

“There’s a lot brands that are, like, the founding members of an instrument, right? And then there are brands that take it to the next level,” he said. “And then there are brands that do both – there are brands that are continuously passionate about what it is that they do.

“And I can’t imagine a massive business like a guitar company that’s grown as much as they have – I can’t imagine how hard it would be to maintain the passion. It’s the things that we work hard for, like [on my] records. You want to maintain the passion, you don’t want to get into a formula too much.

“And you can feel that in the instrument. You can pick up a Martin and you can depend on it. It’s just … there’s a care that’s taken with every person that’s involved in doing something with these instruments, and you can tell. You can feel that when you play it. You can hear it, you know?”

Hayes said that when he’s in the Lehigh Valley, he expects to visit the Martin plant in Nazareth, “or I think they might be coming to the show. But it’s so funny you mention that because I was really excited about that, actually. Cause, yeah, I’m a huge fan.”

For more on Hayes and his appearance at Allentown Fair, read a story in Thursday’s Go Guide.